Cackleberry Club

     My sweet husband, Bruce, is a United States Marine.  However macho he is, he can be delicate, too.  Case in
point: While grocery shopping one day, I noticed he was touching each of a dozen eggs in the carton.  Frankly, he was more than touching them.  He was full out playing with them.  "Whatever are you doing, oh manly man of mine?" asked I. 
     "I am in search of cracks in the eggs," said he.
     "I, too, look for cracks before I put a dozen in the shopping buggy.  You, however, go much further than just looking. You are performing some sort of fancy finger dance, taking each oval orb as partner.  It is quite fascinating to stand back and watch. Yet, is there a purpose beyond entertaining those about you?"
     "Why, yes, there is. Rather than merely inspecting the eggs for any visible cracks on their tops, I pick up and spin each one to be certain there are no cracks on their bottom halves, lest we get them home and discover the ugly truth.  Since scientists use eggs to grow cultures," he shuddered, "if it is within my power, I shan't bring into our home a flawed vessel which will propagate any bacterium and its off-spring, endangering those within said abode. Add to that, it is meet, right and proper, so to do, that we get a complete dozen, unbroken eggs, for the full value of the price we pay. I find a complete tender twirl to be the answer."
     I have since begun the Cackleberry Club, as I now call all egg activities. We invite one and all to become members. Like our 3-Second Memory Club, there are never any meetings, so no minutes are taken and no dues required. 
     Wonder what our next club will be?  I'd best be starting a list to keep all our organizations straight. 

Polka Dots and Bows - Goodbye Lie Diaries - Marie

Late 1880s
Fernandina, a small city on Amelia Island, Florida

     Marie writes:  I adore the polka dot pattern. I wear my blue polka dotted blouse with mama's pearl necklace for special occasions and I feel wonderful doing so.

fair-haired

Marie Dunnigan

     I mentioned this to Jane Marie and she told me she would make a fashionable picture with polka dots of some sort for an entry in this blog.
     As I admire the photograph above, it appears she has tied her pretty pink scarf about her neck several times and knotted it in front.  Oh, and her broach is so lovely. It must be a family heirloom.  I will have to ask her.
     Anyone reading this diary entry, do consider the addition of some or many polka dots into your wardrobe. I do believe they will forever be a popular style.   

Marie Dunnigan is a featured player in Amelia Island's Mark of a Man set in Fernandina, a small city on the island in north Florida.  Marie is boy crazy and stubborn and her tale makes for much drama, mystery, romance and many surprises.

Remember the Maine - An Amelia Island's Mark of a Man Excerpt

Excerpt from                                           

 in E-book and Paperback

Amelia Island's Mark of a Man               

February 15, 1898

Fernandina, Florida

     "I'm ready, Sheriff." Stepping away from his parents, Pat said, "I'm sorry for this embarrassment, Mama. I'm sorry I can't go with you, Daddy. I'm hoping for the best for Aunt Kathleen." He added in afterthought, "Oh, you may want to have a look at that newspaper extra I brought in to show you. The Spanish sunk the Maine in Havana Harbor. My guess is we'll be declaring war on them any day." 

     "Dear God!" Miss Ella put her hands flat to her chest in distress, thinking how everyone alive would remember where they were when they heard this ghastly news. 
     Aunt Noreen, mercifully, was still passed out and unaware of the dispatch. However, by this time, most others in the building had filled Michael's office and were listening. Officer and prisoner walked through the grasping, sobbing maze of relatives, secretaries, clerks and draftsmen.
     Pat noticed Angelique running out the back way, her arm thrown across her weeping eyes. Had he meant that much to her? Of course not. Thunderation! He could be a conceited bastard, he concluded. She must have other troubles. 
     As he climbed into the barred prisoners' wagon, he saw Marie sitting on the front porch railing, swinging her legs and smiling his way. Her ice-blue eyes cut through him. Her attitude seemed somehow—reckless. What had gotten into her? What might happen to her with him not there for protection?  

     The U.S. Battleship Maine was sent to Havana Harbor, January 26, 1898, by President McKinley, to protect United States interests and the Cuban rebels. She was mysteriously blown up while at anchor on February 15, 1898, killing 260 Americans on board. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer of the New York Journal printed the cry: Remember the Maine. Spain declared war on the United States, April 24, 1898. It was the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

Treat Yourself for Valentine's Day

     Discover Amelia Island, Florida's romantic   Goodbye Lie series  - We think you'll love the lure of it when you experience the romance then remember the legend of it all ...  (Available in e-books and paperbacks most everywhere online or order it in your local book store.)
     The Goodbye Lie, Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow and Amelia Island's Mark of a Man, all part of the historical romance/mystery/drama/comedy series, are where the written road delivers you into the antics-filled and angst-ridden lives of the Dunnigan siblings, inside and out of their small island town of Fernandina.  

Breelan and Waite and Trip's story circa 1882

 from Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida to

New York City and back.

Carolena and Grey's story circa 1889

from Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida to

Charleston, South Carolina to Johnstown, Pennsylvania and back.

Pat and Angelica's story circa 1898

from Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida to

Erie, Pennsylvania to the waters of Cuba and back.

Buy e-books and paperbacks here --Goodbye Lie series 

Walking Leaf plus Goodbye Lie Diaries- Peeper

       Have a look at the walking    

leaf aka leaf insect aka leaf bug in the above picture. How wonderful, don't you think?  My friend, Carlo, showed me this fascinating critter, and I want to make sure you, my on-line friends, see it, too.  I did some mini-research. Always in disguise, it can be from one to four inches long. It has six legs and doesn't bite. Notice it has veins, too, just like a real leaf. The babies are a dark red and turn green as they grow. Its walk is such that it wobbles as if blowing in the breeze like a real leaf! 

     For further details, click  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqGiEOw17wA and/or do a video search for walking leaf on YouTube.

 Goodbye Lie Diaries

Late 1800s

Fernandina, Florida   

Peeper writes:  I and our youngins has seen them things and the walkin' stick, too.  Ain't God grand?

(Peeper is the beloved grandmother, who knocked on the Dunnigan family front door one day during the Civil War.  Announcing she'd heard Michael, the patriarch, was off fighting, she entered their home to take care of Miss Ella and her two girls, Breelan and Carolena.  Peeper never left.)